(Bloomberg) -- Caterpillar Inc. shares plunged after the machinery producer reported little change in orders from the start of the year, increasing investor worries that strong demand for equipment in the first quarter may be the best it gets for 2023.

Shares of the Irving, Texas-based company fell as much as 5.6% Thursday in New York, the worst performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the largest intraday drop in three weeks.

Caterpillar’s order backlog was flat in the first quarter compared to the end of 2022, according to its first-quarter report, taking the shine off earnings that otherwise beat analysts estimates. Adjusted earnings were $4.91 a share, topping the $3.82 average estimate of 23 analysts polled by Bloomberg.

Caterpillar is one of the biggest producers of heavy machinery, with its iconic yellow diggers and bulldozers dotting construction sites, mines and oil fields in every corner of the globe. But doubts have begun to creep in about construction demand in North America, the biggest segment for the bellwether company. That has been been exacerbated by a regional banking crisis and concern over the US economy, leaving executives worried about a late-year slowdown.

“It could also be people thinking this is as good as it gets,” Christopher Ciolino, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in an email. “There’s a lot of uncertainty and negative sentiment around the name and cyclicals now too, so investors could be looking for any data points to push that narrative.”

Ciolino said implied orders are down about 7%, a trend that is going to “spook” people. Caterpillar said sales volumes of construction equipment in North America rose as dealers boosted their inventories of machines. Similarly, mining equipment sales rose, but was partially offset by higher manufacturing costs, especially for materials. 

Since the pandemic began, Caterpillar has battled rising freight rates, surging materials costs and a global supply chain crisis, which all ate into profit margins. The company has repeatedly raised prices to offset these headwinds.

Demand for the year will be better than Caterpillar initially ancitipated, Chief Executive Officer Jim Umpleby said in a Thursday call with analysts. Still, he said dealers are likely to scale back excavator inventories in the second half. Excavator sales are considered a benchmark for construction demand. 

Umpleby also gave more insights on the ongoing slowdown in China demand, saying that the total share of sales coming from the Asian nation will be below the normal expected range of 5% to 10%.

(Adds shares and analyst comment from second paragraph.)

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